The Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków is an important cultural institution with an international reputation. It is also a significant point on the map of Małopolska and one of Kraków’s greatest tourist attractions. Its history is inseparably linked with the fate of the historic Rakowice-Czyżyny airfield, now located mainly in District XIV and to a small extent also in District III. We want all visitors to feel welcome and comfortable on our grounds. We are also obliged to ensure that the aviation heritage we collect, catalogue, restore and exhibit is kept safe as a legacy for future generations.
What does the Legislature say?
A museum is an organisational unit not oriented towards profit, whose purpose is the collection and permanent protection of the natural and cultural heritage of humanity, both tangible and intangible — this is the opening sentence of the Museums Act (Journal of Laws 2022, item 385).
The Museum strives to acquire new exhibits and reconstruct buildings (hangars) that formed part of the former Rakowice-Czyżyny airfield. The actions undertaken, systematically implemented over recent years, have resulted in the expansion of the aircraft collection and the reconstruction of a hangar, thereby naturally increasing the exhibition area. The decision to build the fence is related to the fulfilment of the task entrusted to the Museum by the Legislature, and directly to the need to protect the collections and the newly built Heksagon hangar as well as the planned exhibition devoted to civil aviation. The new fence will also enclose the remains of the second hangar adjacent to the Heksagon, whose reconstruction has been included in the Museum’s long-term investment plans.
What is the Heksagon?
The name derives from the concept and airfield construction plan of 1923, of French origin, which combined the functions of a military base and a civilian airport. The central area was occupied by a circular take-off field with groups of hangars and a civilian air terminal arranged in a quadrilateral or hexagonal plan. The hangars, completed in 1929, were considered among the largest and most modern structures of their type in the world. They became one of the symbols of the Kraków Rakowice-Czyżyny airfield. The unique suspended roof was hung from three external load-bearing arches of steel truss construction. This provided an unobstructed covered area of approximately 3,600 m2 for four fighter squadrons… LEARN MORE
Residents’ concerns versus reality
The planned fence will in no way deprive residents of access to the park area located on the grounds of the Polish Aviation Museum. During the design process, the needs of users of the green areas belonging to the Museum were taken into account, and existing informal paths used by residents were excluded from the fencing.
The fence will optimally protect not only the exhibits and the building — part of which includes the historic wall from the original 1929 hangar — but also its surroundings, which contain relics including: the former track bed (a cut section of rails on which the hangar doors slid) and an engine base. A relic of the foundation footing, which has been uncovered and protected with glass, will also be made available to visitors as part of the exhibition. It is also essential and necessary to ensure free communication between the Heksagon and the other Museum buildings, which together form a single coherent and mutually complementary exhibition space — says Tomasz Kosecki, Director of the Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków.
What happens now?
A tender procedure is currently underway to select the contractor for the fence construction.
The fence design was consulted multiple times with representatives of the Municipal Heritage Conservation Office; we incorporated all their requirements and suggestions. At the end of May this year, the Museum received a conservation permit approving the designated route, appearance and method of construction of the fence. The next step in the preparatory process was obtaining a building permit, which was received at the end of July this year.
Open to the public means whose property?
Not everyone realises that the vast area of the former Rakowice-Czyżyny airfield has many owners. These include private individuals, developers, housing cooperatives, the water utility, a military unit, enterprises, educational institutions… and the Polish Aviation Museum — the owner of 25 hectares, mainly green areas.
It is worth noting that the land belonging to the Museum, contrary to what most outsiders believe, encompasses not only the fenced outdoor exhibition area with its buildings, but also part of the former runway and taxiway remains… essentially the area from Bora-Komorowskiego Street to the “Eldorado” housing estate. This also includes significant green areas around them, which we maintain and try to renew to the best of our abilities, bearing full statutory responsibility for them as the landowner. We make them available for public use free of charge, although according to Article 10, paragraph 1 of the Museums Act, we should charge an admission fee. We are aware of how much greenery is needed in cities, which is why it saddens us to hear negative opinions from people who benefit from our courtesy and openness in making our green areas available — concludes Tomasz Kosecki.
Supplementary information
Regarding the fencing of the Polish Aviation Museum grounds, an interpellation was submitted in June this year by Małopolska Regional Councillor Patrycja Tocka. She received appropriate information from the Museum, including site maps, a works implementation schedule and the institution’s long-term land development plans.
The Museum also received a Resolution from the District III Prądnik Czerwony Council regarding the Museum’s fencing plans, prepared and presented by Mr Marcin Smolski, the Council Chairman. An appropriate response is being prepared.
